Hollow rubber bulb, ball, or analogous article.



r PATBNTED AUG. 30, 1904.

I. F. KBPLER.

HOIQLUW RUBBER BULB, BALL, 0R ANALOGOUS ARTICLE.

I APPLIOATION nun mo. a1. 1903.

xe 101m;

F GS.

WITNESSES AT ORNEY UNITED STATES Patented August 30, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

IRIVIN FLOYD KEPLER, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE F. GOOD- RICHCOMPANY, OF OHIO, AKRON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

HOLLOW RUBBER BULB, BALL, OR ANALOGOUS ARTICLE- srzcnlcatfrou formm' 8part of Letters Patent No. 768,943, dated August 0,

Application filed August 31, 1903- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRWIN FLOYD KEPLER, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of the city of Akron, county of Summit, andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHollow Rubber Bulbs, Balls, or Analogous Articles, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to hollow rubber bulbs, balls, or analogousarticles and has for its object to provide a. rubber bulb, ball, or likearticle which can' be made practically without handwork and atcomparatively low cost by simple machinery easily operated by lessskilled and cheaper labor than that required to run sheet-rubbercalendering-machines, the use of which is dispensed with in 4 producingmy improved bulbs or other rubber articles which are less expensive thansuch to be produced, to place these blanks together, first dusting theiradjacent faces with powdered soapstone or similar material to preventadhesion, and then to edge-join these blanks by handwork after insertingacapsule of vapor-generating material or other medium for the productionof gas or vapor during vulcanization and then to in ect air into thearticle so formed by means of a hollow needle with which the blank ispierced and to close the hole made by the needle with gum or eement.This inflation is necessary to produce a bulb that will withstand thetemperature of vulcanization in the vulcanizing-moid, since without suchseparation the walls will adhere crating substance.

in spite cf their pulve'ruleut coating before Serial No. 171,878- Homodel.)

the heat reaches a temperature suificient to liberate the gas from thecontained capsule or produce vapor. In my improved article no piercingof the walls of the blank is necessary, and the necessity for patchingis dispensed with, since the tubing itself contains air, and when asection of it is sheared elf by the cutting edges of the dies thecontained air is confined therein, and the walls of the blank are thusdistended withoutadditional inflation. The air-bags of uncured stockthus formed merely by shearing the tubing are further distended by theimmediateiy-following action of the pressing-die, which in uniting themarginal areas tends to confine the air in more limited space, and thusincreases the distention of the bag, ball, or bulb.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthisspecification, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of anecked bulb embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionof the bulb. Fig. 3 is a side view of a round rubber ball embodying theinvention, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section of said ball. Fig. 5 is .a-cross-section, and Fig. 6 a longitudinal section, showing thecutting-die and the uncured bulb-blank formed thereby and containing agas or 'vapor gen- Figs. 7 and 8 are crosssections of the mold in whichthe uncured die-shaped bulb-blank is shown in Fig. 7 and the vulcanizedbulb in Fig. 8. andFig. 9 is a longitudinal section showing thevuleanized necked bulb in the mold.

As my improved bulb, ball, .or analogous article is made fromuncured-rubber tubing, it may be as well to state that uncured-rubbertubing is usuallyrnade from rubber cornpound or stock which has beenproperly macerated and mixed and then forced through the mandrel-dies ofa tubing-machine, which produces a seamless rubber tube havingsubstantially uniform molecular consistency throughout its walls.

My invention is not restricted to a hollow rubber bulb, ball, or likearticle made from such die-drawn tubing, as the rubber tubing may beproduced in any approvedmanner.

l martin ulna-N2;

'2 seam By using the preferred die-drawn tubing I am able to obtain afinished rubber bulb or ball having walls of uniform molecular consistency and great strength throughout and at amuch reduced cost ascompared with bulbs, balls, or analogous articles made by the usualprocess of cutting calendered sheetrubber stock into segments andhand-joining these segments and inserting independentlyformedgreen-rubber pieces to reinforce a neck or projectionor thickenedportion of the finished bulb or article prior to its vulcanization.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows avulcanized rubber bulb 1, having a-neck2, adapted for connection with a pipe or other portion of an atomizer orother finished product with which the bulb is incorporated in use.

rubber tubing and in order to give a clearer idea of these improved bulbor ball products, the process itself being fully described and claimedin my priorand concurrent patent application having Serial No. 148,621and of which this application is a division. Said Figs. 5 to 9 of thedrawings more particularly 7 show steps in the process of forming thenecked bulb (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) and are briefly explained asfollows:

The opposing similar sections 5 3 of the bulb-blankcutting or shapingdie shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings have registering cuttingedges 7, which surround recesses 8 9,

so shaped that as the cut-off 7' shears the ,uncured bulb-blank 10 fromapiece of rubber tubing the edges 11 of the opposing walls of the blankwill be pressed into intimate or integral union by and within saiddie-recesses 8 9, the recesses 8 forming" the integral margin of theblank all around, while the blankneck body portion is formed by therecesses 9. Before thus cutting or shaping the bulb-blank .10 fromuncured-rubber tubing a capsule 12,

of suitable gas or vapor generating substance, is placed within thetubing to assure sealing of the said capsule within the formed blank.This blank then is placed within the vulcanizing-mold 13, as shown inFig. 7 of the drawings, and during vulcanization the blank is thedecomposing capsule 12.

formatively expanded to the mold-walls, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 of thedrawings, by outward pressure of gas or vapor arising from After thevulcanized blank is taken from the cooled mold the closed extremity orend seal 14 of its neck is cut off, thus leaving the finished vulcanizednecked bulb shown in Fig.1 of the drawings.

The increased wall thickness at 3 of the bulb is due to expansion of theedge-joined portions 11 of the blank. to the 'moldwalls. Should suchincreased wall thickness not be desiredas, for instance, in making therubber ball shown in Fig. 3 of the drawingsit may be avoided bynarrowing the die-recesses S to produce narrower homogeneously-joinededgings 11 on the blank and cause the finished ball or other article tohave walls of substantially uniform thickness throughout, as shown inFig. 4 of the drawings.

It is obvious that a hollow rubber bulb,

ball, or other article of any desired shape made as above described fromuncured-rub" ber tubing (preferably die-drawn tubing) has practicallyuniform molecular quality throughout its walls and is stronger even ifmade from lower-grade stock than articles of like class formed fromsegments or sections of calendered sheet-rubber and having one or morelapped hand-made joints or seams liable "to imperfections and requiringinsertion of independently-formed plugs or pieces to make ened wallportion of the article. Afurther considerable saving is effected byobviating the usual hand-trimming of the bulbs, balls, or other articlesto a final finish for the market, as my bulb or other article made asabove described is marginally trimmed by the cutting or shaping dieprior to vulcanization.

My improved bulbs, balls, or other hollow rubber articles thus may beproduced in great variety as regards form and size and at a much reducedcost, while assuring their increased strength and better wearingqualities.

In explaining this generic invention I have illustrated asingle-neckedbulb cut or shaped from plain or unreinforced uncured-rubber tubing asdistinguished from a necked or endthickened hollow rubber bulb orarticle produced from uncured-rubber tubing provided with specialreinforcement at places from which the necks, projections; or thickenedwall'portions of finished bulbs or other articles are formed and asfully described in my companion subsidiary patent application filed,

drawn rubber tubing, substantially as described.

4. A vulcanized hollow rubber bulb, ball oranalogous article made from adouble-walled 90 or reinforce a necked or projecting or thick:

edge-joined blank cut from uncured die-drawn rubber tubing,substantially as described.

5. A yulcanized hollow-rubber bulb, ball or analogous article made froma double-walled 5 edge-joined blank shaped from uncured-rubber tubing bypressure, substantially as de- 6. A vulcanized hollow rubber bulb, ballor analogous article made from a double-walled I0 edge-joined. blankshaped from uncured-rub- -ber tubing by die-pressure, substantially asdescribed.

7. A vulcanized hollow rubber bulb, ball or

